Unofficial news and tips about Google

July 9, 2007

Google Buys Postini to Expand Enterprise Offering

After the launch of Google Apps Premier Edition, more than 100,000 companies switched to Google's hosted services, but large companies couldn't use it "due to issues of security and corporate compliance". To provide better services for these companies, Google bought Postini, "the global leader in on-demand solutions that deliver on the promise of communication security and compliance". Postini is also a variation of postino, the Italian word for postman. Like Google Apps, Postini doesn't require you to install special software or hardware, as all the data is hosted and processed on their servers. "Postini invented the software as a service approach to providing communications security and compliance, and holds two fundamental patents in the space, with more patents pending."

Postini lets you recover messages, set policies for individual users or groups (block all the messages that contain a certain a keyword), archive and delete messages according to company's policy. "When an email message is sent, it passes through Postini's datacenters and a copy is saved while the original continues on its way. All of this happens within milliseconds, so there is no delay to your messages. When you configure rules for your users we can also check for violations and, if necessary, block the message or take other actions that you define."

I can sense some disturbance in the Redmond campus. Seriously though, this acquisition is a brilliant move by Google and It’s a giant step towards making their web apps more secure (and hence more attractive to the Enterprise clients). Right now I’m looking at what Postini’s services are to learn more about the company, and how it can possibly integrate with Google’s product offering. I hope they’re able to leverage the strength of this newly acquired company to the fullest. It seems that they just bought another “keyhole” – one that’s a real industry leader.

A pretty smart play that will leave the rest of the industry wondering...

Google are acquiring the US market leader, a free cash flow, a global brand, a compliance solution for their online service and some of the worlds largest corporates as customers.

Since the announcement of Google mail for business we have seen quite a take up amongst smaller companies, but a poor showing for the more lucrative mid and upper mid markets. Those who need to be particularly compliance aware.

Free data available on our blog shows Microsoft making a strong play amongst the larger corporates. As yet no sign of Google playing at this level but with Postini solving the compliance issues.

We see Google becoming a strong force in the amongst the medium and larger businesses.

I think Google has taken this company, bought it and destroyed it. It is now impossible to purchase and activate these services. Sure, they take your money, but they don't provide the service. No activation emails are sent and there is no way of asking for help.

Even email to the 'contact us' are auto-replied to with a message that says that they won't read it. I would advise EVERYONE to steer clear of Postini as, from my experience, it's nothing more than a scam to take my money and provide nothing in return.